A1969:
got reviews! So happy!
Miroku: truly, her happiness is limited to
reviews.
A1969:
shut it monk. Anyway, thanks to those who reviewed!
Sango: Hmm…we
don't need to tell you that she appreciates them 'cause it's
quite obvious that she does.
A1969: I don't own Inuyasha, remember that.
Chapter Thirty: It's Good to be Back
XoXoXo
"You ruined the moment!" Kagome hissed again to Inuyasha, her head bent low so that only he could hear her.
Inuyasha looked up at her. "You didn't have to ram me so hard into the ground!"
Kagome rolled her eyes at him then turned her attention to Helen, who was looking at Kagome with a glow in her eyes. "Helen!" the miko said as she ran out of the Well Shrine.
"Kagome!" Helen cried out as she ran to her cousin and hugged her.
Sesshoumaru watched her, silently wondering why he felt annoyed for the intrusion. Watching as Helen and Kagome exchanged pleasantries, he frowned to himself. He had let his emotions slip. It was something that must not happen again; showing emotions—and love—was a grave sign of weakness, something that his father, giving in to temptation, experienced. He knew that it was so wrong and yet…
Why did it feel so right?
His frown turned into a scowl. It would not happen again, he decided. He would not be called weak, he would not give in to his emotions, and he would not love her…even though he wanted to. He would constantly remind himself that he would never be able to obtain power if he let his emotions take over; for this reason, he strengthened the dam that he had built round his emotions.
And now, Inuyasha had gotten off his feet and was approaching Helen. "So!" Inuyasha said. "You came back, eh? Couldn't stay away, huh?"
"I missed you too, Inuyasha!" Helen said as she disengaged herself from Kagome and flung her arms around him.
"Gak!" Inuyasha said, surprised.
Kagome knew perfectly well that Helen hugged Inuyasha in a friendly way, but she couldn't help but sneak a peek at Sesshoumaru, wanting to see his reaction. To her surprise, he was regarding the scene with an emotionless look in his eyes, a look that seemed to say that he didn't care. Must be his way of showing that he's jealous, Kagome thought with slight satisfaction, not knowing that she was wrong.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Inuyasha said as he loosened himself from his assailant's arms. "You don't have to choke me to death!"
Helen smiled at him as she let go. "So," Sesshoumaru said idly as he approached them. "I expect Lady Shinsuke shall die of shock the moment she sees you again."
Kagome, very tactfully, said, "Inuyasha and I'll just be in the house, I have to get ready for those exams!"
Helen smiled at Kagome and nodded. After she and Inuyasha had left, Helen turned her attention to Sesshoumaru. "You think she'll be glad to see me?" she asked and to her surprise, he gave her an emotionless, bordering on cold, look.
"How should I know?" he asked indifferently. "You will find out on your own."
Helen's smile faltered slightly and she wondered why he was acting the way he was. "You're not very encouraging," she pointed out.
"I don't strive to be," he said as he went into the Well Shrine.
She stared after him and sighed, wondering what she could have done to incur his indifference. She followed him into the Well Shrine, aware of the cold seeping out of him. "How's Rin?" she asked randomly as she sat on the edge of the well, facing him.
He frowned at her, trying to ignore his desire to draw her to him. "When I left, she was asleep," he said. He descended the steps so that he stood in front of her. "Which is why we must be on our way," he went on, indifference still in his voice. Helen looked at him, there was a funny look in her eyes, as if she wanted to tell him something—and indeed, she wanted to—but she was holding back.
She tilted her head thoughtfully at him, wondering why he was suddenly so cold. His indifference hurt her, but she would not know show it. "Well?" he asked. "Are you going to move or will you continue to sit there?"
She blushed. "Sorry," she muttered. She jumped into the well without looking back at him.
He watched as she vanished in a flash of blue light. He sighed and looked into the dark well. His attitude was hurting her, he knew. He did not know of how much she had truly missed him when they had been apart, he did not know that she had wept because of him and yet he knew that he was hurting her. But he also knew that there was nothing he could do about it. He wanted to hold her but at that same time, he restrained himself, knowing that letting those accursed emotions take over would only mean weakness and the deprivation of the power he had yet to obtain.
He continued to look into the well's dark interior and then he, too, jumped in.
XoXoXo
"Helen, is that you?" a familiar voice asked as Helen climbed out of the well. Her eyes adjusted to the light. She blinked and smiled. "Sango!" she shouted happily as she ran to her. Sango herself, equally delighted, ran up to Helen and hugged her.
"We thought Kagome said that you'd left!" the young taijiya said as they let go of each other. She, Miroku and the others had come to the clearing of the well in hopes of catching up to Kagome and Inuyasha when the duo had left without bothering to explain. It was a surprise to find Helen climb out of the well for she had really grown fond of her.
"Well, whaddya know," Miroku said as he, Shippou and Kohaku came into view. "We came here hoping to find Inuyasha and it turns out, we find you."
"Miroku!" Helen shouted as she launched herself at the monk, whose eyes widened in surprise. He glanced at Sango and she wasn't jealous. Indeed, she only gave him a look that said, "Touch her and you're as good as dead."
"So, you've come back, huh?" Miroku said as Helen let go.
Shippou and bounded on the monk's shoulder. "You left without saying goodbye, you know," he pointed out. Helen giggled and held her arms out to Shippou. The young kitsune jumped into them and Helen hugged him.
"Well, that won't happen anymore, I think," Helen said with a smile. She turned to Kohaku and smiled at him, not really knowing who he was, but she knew that he was Sango's brother.
Sango gave Helen a hard look, as if she were studying her. As Shippou freed himself from Helen's arms, she took her aside, out of the others' earshot. "He's the reason why you came back, isn't he?" Sango asked.
Helen looked at her and blushed. "Yes," she said.
Sango gave her that studying look again. "What?" Helen asked.
"Well," the young taijiya said. "I still don't understand why you're still…human."
Helen looked down at the ground. "I found out why," she said quietly. "My mother said that the seal she placed on me will break if I accepted Sesshoumaru as my betrothed…But, she lied to me about the accepting part." Sango gave her a curious look. Helen sighed. "I have to be his mate before the seal can be broken," she said bluntly, accompanied by another violent blush. "It's more than acceptance…" Her voice trailed off.
"Guess I'll never know what I look like after all," Helen said wistfully, thinking of Sesshoumaru's indifference.
Sango was grinning, though. "Don't be like that!" she said. "Listen, we know that Sesshoumaru loves you…I'll bet before winter comes, you'll be married and already a demoness." Her grin widened. Helen sighed then looked at the canopy of the trees, their leaves slowly turning golden, flowing in the soft, cool breeze that heralded the coming of autumn. Yes, Helen thought as she looked around. Autumn is slowly approaching…then winter, and I bet when it does, Sesshoumaru will grow even colder than he is, his personality mimicking the snow…
"I don't think so," Helen said, looking back at Sango. She then told Sango of the way Sesshoumaru held her and of his cold indifference.
"He's in denial," Sango muttered. It was what she hated about men. They sometimes masked their feelings to give themselves a sense of power. "Ah, well, knowing Sesshoumaru it'll be a thousand years before he gets over it…lucky you're a demon."
Helen shook her head. "My mother once mentioned that if this human body continued to age, so would my demon one…So I don't have a thousand years…Unless, of course, if the seal was broken."
Sango's eyes widened. "Why did your mother have to go through such extremes?"
"She didn't want me marrying anyone else," Helen said. "And she said it was for my own protection."
Sango sighed. "You'll have to find out how to break the seal, then, without Sesshoumaru," she said. She gave Helen a comforting smile. "I know what it feels like…Kagome knows what it feels like…I guess we're just a bunch of loveless young girls, aren't we?"
Helen smiled at Sango. "When winter arrives," she said, thinking of Kagome's school's winter break. "Kagome won't be going back to school for a while. So it seems as if she'll be spending more time with Inuyasha…sooner or later, you'll be cuddling close to Miroku to keep warm and I'll be the only loveless one around." She thought of Sesshoumaru's cold indifference and winter was more likely to make him even colder.
Sango tilted her head at her. "You really do love him, don't you?" she asked. "And it's more than just a fleeting fancy, I think."
"How can you tell?" Helen asked, her cheeks going a soft shade of pink.
"You hated him at first, remember?" Sango said. "But then, you love him now. Unlike others who only think that they love people but the fact is that they don't."
Helen was silent. Just then, they heard a hiss from Kirara, a slight yelp from Shippou, a gasp from Kohaku and an "Ah," from Miroku. Both girls spun around to find Sesshoumaru standing beside the well, a look of cold indifference on his face as his eyes swept around the clearing, searching for Helen.
Sango and Helen looked at each other and walked back towards them. "Well?" Sesshoumaru said coldly. "Hurry up, then."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever, Inu Baka," Helen said, returning to her old and rebellious self.
Sango watched as they left, knowing that Helen was right about Sesshoumaru. "I have a question," Shippou asked innocently. "Why was it when Helen was gone, Sesshoumaru wanted to get her back but now that she's back, it looks as if he doesn't want her anymore?"
"We will never know, Shippou," Miroku said.
XoXoXo
Helen and Sesshoumaru continued to walk until the sun was now high in the sky, a sure sign that it was noon. Sesshoumaru could have taken Helen with him and flown, but he did not want to be tempted again and hence, the walk. At the peripheral of his vision, he could see her eyes taking in the scene of approaching autumn. The trees were slowly turning a golden color and the wind was slowly turning chilly.
"So how is everyone?" Helen asked him, trying to break the silence.
"You will find out for yourself," he said. His tone did not encourage conversation and so Helen remained silent.
They walked on for a few more minutes until they came to a clearing where Rin was holding onto Ah-Un's reins, while the dragon chewed on the grass and Jaken was pacing around, wondering where his lord had run off to without even waiting for them to wake.
Rin suddenly spotted them. She blinked, not believing that Helen was there. A smile suddenly broke out on her face. "Helen-san!" she shouted with delight as she let go Ah-Un's reins. She ran to Helen, trampling on poor Jaken as she did so, and launched herself into Helen's arms.
Helen staggered slightly as Rin's weight hit her but she happily wrapped her arms around the little girl whom she missed as much as her mother. "Rin!" she said happily. She knelt in front of the little girl. "It's so good to see you again."
"You too, Helen-san!" Rin said happily. "But you left without saying goodbye." A sad look came into her eyes.
Helen's smile faltered slightly, hardly noticeable. "Well, it won't happen again," Helen said, hugging Rin again. "I promise."
Rin nodded then pulled away. She pointed to Jaken who, though he didn't show it, felt glad that she had returned for her return meant that his lord wouldn't leave them as much any more. "Jaken-sama missed you too!" she said with a toothy grin.
"What?" Jaken said incredulously. "I never said—"
Helen laughed as she approached him. "I missed you too, Jaken!" and much to Sesshoumaru's chagrin, she bent down and gave him a light kiss on the forehead. The toad went as red as a tomato, thinking that it was the unsolicited kiss that he had had since his mother.
Helen smiled as she began to pat Ah-Un who, too, seemed glad to have her back. The dragon closed its eyes lazily enjoying the pat that she was giving him. She then turned her attention to Sesshoumaru. "So…are we going East, then?" she asked. "And I think that it'd be best if we flew and took Rin and Jaken with us."
Sesshoumaru nodded curtly and didn't say anything else.
XoXoXo
Lady Shinsuke spent much time in the tearoom in the garden. It was her favorite place to be, actually. The tearoom was small and circular and all its doors were open so the fresh breeze could come and go as it pleased. Being open also meant that one could take in the full view of the garden. Lady Shinsuke sighed and listened to the stream that gurgled cheerfully along the garden which fed the stone-lined pools where irises and peonies grew along them. She looked at the trees, at their canopies, slowly turning a soft shade of gold as autumn slowly approached.
She sighed. Her thoughts continued to stray to her daughter. Lately, she had taken to burying herself in work to distract herself. There was enough work as it were. She had to make sure that the clan lords were in check. The Eastern Lands—as well as the other three lands—were made up of five ancient demon clans: the Hiyoshige, the Maruwara, the Fumimasa, the Hirokawa and her clan, the Shirogawa. The Shirogawa clan ruled over the other clans and over the whole eastern lands but that did not mean that the others didn't have a say in the matter. Sometimes, she had to endure visits from the clan lords, make sure that they continued to hand in taxes and, most importantly, saw to it that they continued to be loyal to the ruling clan. She had good reason to insure the last. Not one of the clan lords in the entire country—save the West—tolerated women as the head of their clan yet she knew that there were other women who ruled over their clans, much to the annoyance of men.
Her sigh deepened. Without Helen, who was to rule over the Shirogawa clan? Without an heir, power would slip from the Shirogawa and the thought of it made her feel sick. Her clan had held power for a long time: five thousand years. Would all that go to waste because she did not have an heiress? She knew that the other lands had their own share of internal power struggles but there was one clan in particular whom none would dare cross—the Taisho, Sesshoumaru's clan.
Lucky them.
She frowned. Now, she missed her daughter more than ever. Not just because she was the heiress to the East, but because Helen was her daughter. She was interrupted from her brooding by a maid who came into the room and bowed.
"Lady Shinsuke, you have a visitor," she announced.
"Who is it? Is it Lord Teruko?" she asked, referring to the head of the Maruwara clan. "Send him away. I do not wish to see any visitors today." Her eyes strayed to the symbol of her clan that was engraved on the wall—a purple iris within an elongated hexagon. Who was going to lead the clan after her? One of her senior retainers? One of the clan elders? One of the vassal families? The idea seemed unheard of and ludicrous.
"Lady, you will wish to see this visitor," the maid, Sadako, insisted. If Shinsuke hadn't been so melancholy, she would have noticed that the maid had a twinkle in her eyes. Indeed, the other servants had it too, for they did not expect this surprise.
"I already told you, I do not wish to see this visitor unless it is Lady Takeida," Shinsuke said stubbornly.
Sadako gave her a small smile. "Then shall I tell Lady Helen to leave, then?"
Lady Shinsuke's eyes widened and she spun around to look at her maid. She did not believe her. Her daughter had left, never to return again…
"You lie, my daughter has left," she said coldly.
Sadako smiled then stepped aside. A young woman emerged in the doorway. Her dark hair falling in loose curls around her face, caressing her shoulders. Her icy-blue eyes twinkling like diamonds. "Helen!" Lady Shinsuke gave a little scream as she stood up and ran to her, embracing her, holding her in her arms. Sadako very tactfully melted away.
"Is it really you?" she asked with disbelief as she pulled away from her daughter and held her face in her hands. "I cannot believe this! I thought you had left."
Helen smiled with unfeigned affection. She was happy to see her mother again. "So did I but…I couldn't stay away," she said.
Lady Shinsuke embraced her again, hardly daring to believe that she was back, that she was here. At that moment, Sesshoumaru entered and watched the scene with nearly a bored expression on his face. Lady Shinsuke turned to him. "You have brought her back!" she said with gratitude. She bowed to him. "I am forever in your debt."
"I did not bring her back," Sesshoumaru corrected. "She came back of her own accord."
Lady Shinsuke still smiled at him. At that moment, the maid entered the room. She bowed low, and then straightened. "Lady Takeida is here to see you, Lady," she said. Lady Shinsuke's eyes gleamed.
"Ah," she said. "Takeida does not know that you have returned. What a lovely surprise this will be." She turned to the maid. "Tell her to come here and not to the castle."
The maid bowed once more then left. Lady Shinsuke then turned to Helen and Sesshoumaru. "Please, sit down," she said indicating to the low, polished, mahogany table. "We will take tea along with Lady Takeida." Then, much to Helen's chagrin, she left the room, leaving her and Sesshoumaru alone.
Helen looked at her mother's retreating back, wishing she wouldn't leave even for a few moments; she then knelt on one of the cushions in front of the table. Much to her surprise, Sesshoumaru knelt down beside her. She knew why—he wanted to avoid looking at her. For a few moments, which seemed like an eternity, they were both tense, trying to ignore each other's presence. How could he be this cold? Helen thought, thinking of the way he held her under the Sacred Tree—had it all been just a few hours ago?
She tried to look sideways at him without giving herself away. He was studying the symbol of the Shirogawa clan engraved on the wall. Trying to dispel the tension between them, she said, "What symbol is that?"
Sesshoumaru let his guard down and looked at her. He resisted the mad urge to pull her to him, to feel her against him; they were so close. Why did he have to sit beside her? "How ignorant of you," he said with slight scorn. "Do you not know that that is the symbol of the Shirogawa clan—you're clan?"
His words and the slight scorn in his voice puzzled her. She tried to hide the hurt he had inflicted for no apparent reason. "Sorry," she said with irony. "Unlike you, I wasn't brought up the way you were, Inu Baka."
He turned his attention away from her. He was angry with himself for harboring these emotions. He knew how to overcome them—he had to be ruthless and he would not be weak. At that moment, Lady Takeida and Lady Shinsuke entered the room. Lady Takeida was delighted to see Helen again and equally delighted to find her son sitting beside her. She voiced this out and Lady Shinsukue—sensing the tension between Sesshoumaru and Helen—turned the talk of conversation elsewhere. She turned to Helen. "From now on, I want you to stay in the castle and not go after Naraku," she said calmly. "You and Sesshoumaru are no longer betrothed and I find no reason why you should continue to spend time with him."
Helen's eyes widened. She didn't know that. To her surprise, she felt disappointed. The moment Lady Shinsuke had said it, Sesshoumaru felt annoyed. He told himself that it was Rin who would miss her company. "But," Helen said. "I have my own score to settle with Naraku and—"
"Nonsense," her mother said. "Sesshoumaru will settle that score for you. And you are to remain here. It is time I taught you about the clans, about the customs and our traditions and other such obligations. If you are to inherit the East from me, it is important that you learn these."
Helen looked at her. She knew that she was Lady Shinsuke's daughter. But to inherit the Eastern Lands! It was not something one could do lightly and Helen decided that she was one of those. "But…I…how will your people react to a human ruling over them?" she decided to exploit this one little fault, hoping to get out of her predicament.
Lady Shinsuke and Lady Takeida exchanged glances. "I will try to break that seal," Lady Shinsuke muttered to herself, berating herself for sending Helen away in first place, thinking it was the most foolish act that she had ever done in her life. She turned to Helen. "From now on, you will stay in the castle." While I try to undo the damage I did.
Helen saw that there was no persuading her mother. "Can I at least tell Kagome?" she pleaded. "And Rin?"
Helen thought that she would be denied her request, but to her surprise, her mother nodded. "Very well, be back by tomorrow," she said.
XoXoXo
"Nani?" Rin asked with a disappointed look in her eyes when Helen told her. "You're leaving again, Helen-san? But why?"
"My mother wants me to, Rin," Helen said as she watched Jaken bitterly grumbling to Sesshoumaru about Rin's behavior. They had left the Eastern palace now and were resting underneath the shade of an oak tree. The afternoon sun's heat was made useless by the breeze that now slowly turning colder. In a while, she and Sesshoumaru would be going back to Kaede's village, leaving Rin with Jaken—something Jaken disliked.
"Will you visit me, Helen-san?" Rin asked.
"I'm sure I can sneak out somehow," Helen said with a mischievous grin.
Rin smiled, comforted by this, but then she sighed. "Don't you like Lord Sesshoumaru anymore?" she asked, her voice not low. Sesshoumaru, who had been listening ceaselessly to Jaken, found himself staring at Helen out of the peripheral of his vision. Deciding that he should act before he let his emotions take over, he stood up and left their camp.
Helen sighed as she watched him leave. No doubt that he had heard Rin. He was disgusted, she decided. "Rin…" she began. "Aren't you a little too young to even talk about these things?"
"Helen-san, he missed you," Rin said, still trying to dissuade Helen from leaving again.
Helen sighed then turned their talk to the coming autumn, to the kind of birds that would fly for winter. An hour later, Sesshoumaru was back, his face impassive than ever, something Helen noted with dismay. What had she done to anger him thus?
"Well?" Sesshoumaru asked. He wanted to take her to Kagome and leave her there but knew he couldn't. He knew that he would have to take her back to the Eastern Lands himself.
Helen nodded and with some foreboding, followed him out of the camp.
XoXoXo
"So your mother wants you to stay with her, huh?" Kagome asked. She and Inuyasha had arrived close to dusk. Kagome was in a particularly good mood since she felt that exams actually went well. They were sitting around campfire, far from Kaede's village, beside a river since Inuyasha had immediately insisted that they get a move, having had too many delays already. They were watching as the fish they had caught slowly started roasting. Sesshoumaru kept a good distance away from them, as always.
Helen sighed then nodded. "Yeah," she said. "She said that I have to learn the ways of our clan."
"Clan?" Kagome asked.
Helen nodded. "I don't really know much about it," she admitted.
Kagome turned to Miroku. "Clans?"
"Demon ruling is quite different from the human ways," the monk answered. "To demons, the entire country is divided into four parts—the Eastern Lands, the Western Lands, the Northern Lands and the Southern Lands. Each of the lands is ruled by one clan, but there are still others who have a say in the matter. I don't really know much about it…If you want to find out more, I suggest you ask Myouga or better yet"—he lowered his voice and looked pointedly at Helen—"you can ask Sesshoumaru for us."
Helen looked down and a certain look came into her eyes. Sango elbowed Miroku hard in the ribs. "Ow!" the monk said. Their talk turned to more serious matters, such as how they were going to retrieve the shard from Kohaku's back without endangering his life. At that point, Sango encircled her arms around her brother, as though something would take him away. Looking at the boy, Kohaku, made Helen remember that Naraku had once controlled her.
"Kagome," she said. "Didn't you say that I harmed one of your allies when Naraku was still controlling me?"
"Good thing too," Inuyasha muttered.
"He's fine," Kagome assured. "It was just Kouga. He'll forgive when he finds out why you attacked him."
"You should've hit him harder," Inuyasha muttered again. Kagome gave him a reproachful look.
"Inuyasha's angry at Kouga 'cause Kouga's always trying to take Kagome away from him," Shippou said simply. A few moments later, a sharp cry rang throughout the area.
"Inuyasha sit!" Kagome screeched. Inuyasha muttered curses as he got up and refused to eat his share of his fish, saying that his appetite had been rammed to the ground. Kagome rolled her eyes and ignored him. Sango caught Helen's eye, reminding the young woman of the talk they had about being loveless. They both grinned at each other and began to eat their fish.
Night had completely fallen by the time they had finished. Kagome had politely offered Sesshoumaru something to eat but he declined without even saying a word.
"I feel sticky," Sango complained as she, Kagome and Helen began to clean up.
"We passed by a hot spring earlier," Kagome said. "Let's go there after we finish…wanna come, Helen?"
Helen nodded, relieved to find an excuse to be away from Sesshoumaru's cold presence. They quickly finished cleaning up and Kagome picked up her backpack. "Sango!" Miroku, lecherous as always, said. "Allow me to guard the three of you! There are demons and unseen dangers in this area that—"
"The only danger in this area is you, monk," Sesshoumaru surprisingly said. Inuyasha looked at him, eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Ehhh…" Miroku said sheepishly.
XoXoXo
"Ahh…I haven't done this in a long time," Kagome said as she eased herself into the soothing hot waters. She leaned against the rocks that gave some privacy. She turned to Helen and Sango. "I can't believe Sesshoumaru told Miroku off."
"It's because he doesn't want Miroku spying on Helen," Sango teased, looking at Helen. They couldn't tell if she was red from the steam of from embarrassment.
"Stop it," Helen said. "You know he doesn't…"
"Helen!" Kagome said. "You have no idea how much he tried to contact you when you were away…don't tell us that he doesn't like you!" Helen was silent so Kagome went on. "I mean…he wouldn't do all those unless he doesn't like you and don't believe that Lady Shinsuke told him to—he's a liar."
Helen sighed. They were silent for a moment, listening to the sound of the crickets chirping, the sound of owls hooting and the soft splash of the water…and a hiss.
"Helen, watch out!" Sango suddenly screamed.
A black colored snake reared its head from one of the rocks, fangs poised close to Helen's neck. She screamed and at the same time, she sat up so that she was knee-deep in the water. Sango quickly stood up, grabbed the towel next to her, reached for her short sword and slashed at the snake's neck, its blood tainting the water red. Kagome was already wrapping a towel around herself and getting out of the water.
"Are you alright?" Sango asked, wrapping her towel tighter around her.
"Yeah," Helen said, still in shock. "Thanks."
Kagome and Sango were suddenly silent.
They were staring behind Helen.
Helen spun around, forgetting that she didn't even have her towel, to see what Sango and Kagome were looking at. To her shock, surprise and embarrassment, Sesshoumaru was standing there. She felt her cheeks redden. Sesshoumaru had heard her scream and came running, swift as lightning. He didn't expect to find her…as he found her. He saw the embarrassment that crept up to her cheeks in the form a violent blush as she realized that she was standing knee-deep in the water without a towel. He tried not to really look at her. He forced himself to stare into her eyes. And very uncharacteristically, a small hardly-noticeable red tinge rose in his cheeks.
Helen seemed to have snapped out. She realized that he was still staring at her. Her cheeks grew even redder.
"SESSHOUMARU!" she screamed.
XoXoXo
A1969: well, that's the end of the chapter.
Miroku: so please be sure to review.
Sango: so the author knows that you want her to update.
A1969: oh, and thanks to those who reviewed!